Anatoly Iksanov fired?

Mr Iksanov was an administrator, not a music, dance or acoustic expert. I suspect he made the statement based on what his staff told him. As for Mr Gergiev, everything he says is based on his experience, but why is he choosing to say it to the media?

Regardless, if the Bolshoi has been forced to resort to microphones after the renovation, it's a tragedy, and whoever was responsible for monitoring the acoustics should answer for it. We can only hope that the situation can still be rectified.

Aside from during spoken dialogu, where the score calls for it (contemporary scores), or where the staging calls for it (example, a booming offstage Faffner), needing to mike means the acoustics are substandard for opera, oratorios, voacl recitals, classical pieces with vocalists, etc.